Thursday, 12 May 2011

Salama Madagasikara!

I had been impatient to see Andry again and to see his Red Isle again!

Three years have passed since my last trip to Madagascar. Three years during which political chaos and unrest has caused violent uprisings and demonstrations with bloody reprisals that have brought the country to its knees.... We haven't heard anything about this painful story... Why? because Madagascar is of no interest to journalists. It is too far away from Western interests.....

Nonetheless, Madagascar wields its charms on a number of tourists in search of Big Nature, wild nature, they are attracted to the extraordinary flora and fauna endemic in this island. Madagascar boasts a number of very accessible national parks located along the few tarred roads that criss-cross the island and in which you have a good chance of seeing game.

As far as I am concerned, before I discovered the orchids, the lemurs and the chamelons, I first met the people..

As with all big cities around the world, the capital city Antananarivo is buzzing with people working hard to find any work that might improve their ordinary day to day life. The large proportion of the population, however, lives in the countryside and it is here that you absolutely have to spend time if you intend to come anywhere close to understanding the reality of the daily life of the average Malagasy.

The Malagasy have a tough life! Their days consist of back-breaking work in the rice paddy fields or walking long distances to and from school or to their fields or to go and sell their catch, their pigs or bananas on market days.. Many are or very poor and survive on less than 2 euros a day. Under these conditions each day is a matter of survival, cobbling things together and finding any work that enables them to feed their families.. and yet, despite the difficulties and their lack of anything, the Malagasy have huge hearts and are always there to help 'others', be they family or even complete strangers..

Their gaze is crystal clear, their laughter loud and pure and they are always ready to break into a dance; they are incredibly curious when we meet them along the way and their kindness is humbling...

Even if some regions have already been 'polluted' by Western tourism (eg Nosy Be where I have no intention of setting foot!) and respect for the local population has been lost and bringing all the ensuing troubles in its wake (paedophiles, sex trade, aids etc). the vast majority of the island still welcomes strangers 'vazaha' in a simple and generous way.

I was touched by this kindness of spirit in 2005 when I came here on my first trip and it continues to move me every time I return.

Travel in Madagascar is no ordinary journey, it isn't a place you can tick off on your map of the world! In Madagascar, more than anywhere else, I find my emotions are constantly being woken by a range of feelings linked to encounters with these wonderful, welcoming people you become attached to... In Mada, my heart is like a sponge and it fills and fills until it overflows with all these gentle vibrations. And to immerse oneself into this very unique atmosphere brings even greater magnificence to the landscape and to the mind-blowing views...

The wide open plains of Hautes Terres where the long grass dances to the gentle rythmn of the wind, the Manambolo- the red river which runs lazily along magnificent sandy beaches, The Tsingy - the rarest of experiences as you feel as though you are exploring a cathedral of rocks with thousands of ghostly gargoyles... The fascinating and holy baobab trees that you expect to come alive at any moment as they do in those cartoon films.

Belo on sea.. a tiny village on the West coast facing Mozambique - somewhere between the coconut palms and the sand.. I feel as though I"m seeing the end of the world...there's nothing particular to do here and yet it's so beautiful at sunset, the setting sun turning all the shipyards and future boats a deep flame red colour..

The West Coast consists of hundreds of kilometres of wild white sandy beaches and turquoise seas, under the watchful eye of the Vezo fishermen, who deftly manoeuvre their elegant makoro canoes with their outriggers..

And the sky....huge, breath-taking, an explosion of colour, skies that fill the space with massive storm clouds, every shade of white and then grey and all the way to the darkest jet of blacks...

The soul of this majestic place is in the music and songs of the Malagasy. They sing and dance wherever they are and their voices adjust to the mood: they either sing softly like the evening breeze or they sing with fire in their belly like the "Selagy", a beat that they adore all over the island. They sing about their hardships, about love and they even speak to their ancestors because in Mada, "the dead remain amongst the living'.. They have beautiful voices and harmonize naturally and almost unconsciously when there are lots of them singing..... yes, I admit it, I am obssessed by this island and its people!

And who is Andry? Andry is a local guide in Madagascar. We met in 2005 (when we first started working together) and it was the start of a real friendship... Since then we have become friends....brothers even! Whatever we are... we are very close.. It is a joy to be with him on the ground.. we understand each other completely. We spend hours setting the world to rights or indeed talking about nothing, telling the other about our lives and our cultures and talking about our respective families.. He tries to teach me Malagasy and for my part I try to advise him on the way to work with travel agencies.. I absolutely admire his professionalism, his deep respect for the people he works with and his sensitivity to the people he has around him. He is honest and modest and is proud to work as an independent without being a slave to these large agencies who capture so much of the tourism market. He hasn't chosen the easiest road but as he often says "I will make it happen".

Madagascar needs young people of integrity like him and I have made it a point of honour to help him as much as I can to build his business so that he can afford to do some of the many community projects he has swimming around in his head!

This trip is a nice circuit that Andry and I first put together in 2008 when I brought my family, Claire, Sacha and Ariel with me to Madagascar.

We spend two weeks moving around, starting in the capital city Antananarivo (the city of 1000 - a reference to the 1000 soldiers detailed to protect the first Malagasy king in the seventeenth century!) and going all the way to the west coast of Menabe, on the edge of the channel wiht Mozambique. The trip takes us across the plains and villages of the Hautes Terres and its Merina people ("the highland people"). We start in a minibus, then in a local taxi and end up spending three days on foot in the mountains of Bongolava.

At the end of the plateau, we meet the lazy Manambolo river as it meanders through the countryside.We spend three days on the river, going at the gentle speed of our canoes and in the evening, making camp on the banks of the river. This gentle river leads us to the village of Bekobaka and the gates of the Tsyngy du Bermahara national park. We visit this spectacular park by way of an easy via ferrata.

Then it's a long transfer to Morondava, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Sakalava ("the people of the long valleys") and its world famous avenue of baobabs.

We finally board the Nofy Be ("great dream") a magnificent dhow which is a new build using ancient techniques and know-how that the craftsmen have passed down from father to son..The next three days are spent sailing and we make a stop at Belo and then another to visit an uninhabited island where the Vezo come and spend five months of the year to fish using their canoes with simple outriggers, simple little nets and harpoons.

Two weeks is tight to visit this enormous country (1.5 times the size of France) but this circuit nevertheless serves to give you a taste of the natural and cultural diversity found on the island and of a life that is light years away from our soul-less lives that are totally dependent on technology

You have to be careful not to be too greedy to see too much of the country in one go... if you are, you risk spending your whole time travelling!

Finally a word about the young people I was with on this trip and another about Monique, the wonderful lady who looks after them as though they were her own!

Monique and I have been friends for over 25 years (doesn't make us any younger!) and she runs a centre for young people with social or family difficulties. She set up the project and it was a joy for me to share these encounters and intense moments with her and these young people.

They discovered a new way of travelling, were confronted with a number of new situations that required constant adaptation and a big effort to deal with 'difficult' situations and they had to remain open to being team players as we operated as one big team throughout the trip..

I take my hat off to you - a lot of tourists could learn from your example - Sabrina, Lucie, Samira, Alexandra, Denise, Lisa et et Jibé...

You took a lot but you gave so much! I feel honoured to have had the honour of getting to know you and then the Malagasy who helped you, amused you, looked after you generously.. They unanimously voted "Zibe" as the Malagasy Mascot!!

To all our porters, polers, drivers and the crew of the Nofy Be and Andry - your kindness and help has marked these young people's lives for ever, just as you touched the lives of my children three years ago...

This was an emotional journey for me but no less so for Andry, who stole away like a thief when we were at the airport as he couldn't bear to say goodbye.... Don't worry Andry, our story can't stop here.. "We're going to make it happen aren't we?"

Veloma, mandra pihaona!... Misaotra betsaka...(Goodbye and thank you and see you soon!!)

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